Get to Know All of Lindsay Ell

When a song passes an artist’s three-minute test, that is usually a really good sign.

And Lindsay Ell’s latest song did.

“If I was given three minutes for somebody who’s never heard my name before, who’s never heard any of my music before, I’d want them to hear ’Waiting on You,’ because it represents so much of who I am,” Ell told Billboard Country Update.

After just three minutes, you will know all about Ell, and the influences she poured into her music.

“It’s a little bit of blues, it’s a little bit of a rock, and it’s a lot a bit of country, and yet it represents so many things that I’ve felt in my life — in my personal life and in my career,” she added.

As a female songwriter, Ell hopes she can make music with some strength in the lyrics, much like the way artists like Sheryl Crow, Bonnie Raitt and Joni Mitchell do.

“They can be vulnerable, just enough where you believe them and you know it’s real, but then they still keep that strength as a woman. I really wanted to be able to keep that stance,” she said.

Ell — one of CMT’s Next Women of Country — admits that when she first came to Nashville, she was a fan of throwing 20 instruments on a song. But as she has found her sound, she’s since come to love simplicity more, saying, “I really learned that I love five instruments.”

The new single, she says, is the most honest one she’s released since moving to Music City nearly a decade ago.

“Now it’s the rest of the world’s job to see what’s going to happen to it,” Ell said.